Grand Rapids-based Long Road Distillers LLC hopes to open a new satellite tasting room on the lakeshore.

GRAND HAVEN — Grand Rapids-based Long Road Distillers LLC hopes to open a new satellite tasting room on the lakeshore.

Long Road Distillers plans to move forward with an offsite tasting room at 102 Washington Ave. after the Grand Haven City Council voted unanimously in favor of supporting the company’s request for a tasting room license from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission.

The move comes just days after the body rejected the company’s plans to open a tasting room in the city’s historic former train station.

In a text message to MiBiz, co-owner Jon O’Connor said the Washington Avenue location “looks like a good path moving forward” for the distillery, although he acknowledged there were “still some hurdles” the company needs to overcome.

The initial plans call for a 1,000-square-foot tasting room, he said. The company also hopes to add outdoor seating.

If the Grand Haven plans come to fruition, the tasting room will be the second for Long Road, which also operates a tasting room in Boyne City. The distillery has a full-service bar and restaurant at its main Grand Rapids operations.

“The Long Road team is thrilled to join the Grand Haven community,” Kyle VanStrien, Long Road co-founder and co-owner, said in a statement. “We’ve been working to secure a location in or around downtown for nearly two years, and we’re excited to now find ourselves in the heart of the retail and entertainment district of the city.”

An official opening date has not been announced, though Long Road expects to begin the hiring process soon.

Changes enacted last year to the state liquor control code allow distilleries to serve full pours and cocktails at their tasting rooms, where they had only been allowed to offer samples in the past, as MiBiz previously reported.

A vacant church in Grand Rapids’ Heritage Hill neighborhood could be transformed into affordable housing by next year.

GRAND RAPIDS — A vacant church in Grand Rapids’ Heritage Hill neighborhood could be transformed into affordable housing by next year.

Madison Lofts LDHA LLC, co-owned by Brad Gruizinga, Nick Lovelace and Tom Ralston, plan to convert the former Faith Ministries Center Church at 200 Madison Ave. SE into 22 affordable apartments. They expect to apply for low-income housing tax credits through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority in the April funding round.

The partners, who acquired the property in December via public auction, also signed a payment in lieu of taxes agreement with the city of Grand Rapids. The proposal heads for a site plan review with the city’s Planning Commission on March 28.

Lovelace said the impetus for redeveloping the church was maintaining the use of the building in the neighborhood. It had sat vacant for the last couple of years, he said.

“Unless another church buys it, they need to be reused, otherwise it just sits there vacant,” he said. “That’s not good for the community.”

The 22 apartments would be a mix of 14 two-bedroom units and eight one-bedroom units, as well as a community room. Some off-street parking is planned in a shared driveway with an adjacent multi-family home, as well as in the basement of the church building, pending site plan approval.

The 24,000-square-foot building was built in 1921, and an addition was added in 1952. The developers plan to keep the outside the same, aside from restoration, as it is in the Heritage Hill historic neighborhood.

Location was a big factor in deciding to restore the property, said Kara Harrison, real estate development incentive associate at Colliers International. Harrison is working as a consultant on the project.

“It’s a really good location,” she said. “It has a high walk score, close to the hospitals, grocery stores, education. There’s eight different bus lines within a quarter of a mile. It’s a really good spot for affordable housing.”

Gruizinga, who is serving as the project developer, said he enjoys rehabbing older buildings. He previously served as the developer for the conversion of a former school building on Broadway Avenue in Grand Rapids into the Union Square Condominiums project.

If the Madison Lofts project successfully secures LIHTC funding, the developers hope to break ground in October and wrap up construction about a year from then.

The property wouldn’t be the first former church in Grand Rapids to be converted into rental housing. Developer 616 Lofts LLC, which is currently going through Chapter 7 bankruptcy, redeveloped the former Bethlehem Lutheran Church at 253 Prospect Ave. NE into apartments in 2014. Earlier this year, MiBiz also reported on plans proposed by an affiliate of Grand Rapids-based developer Metric Structures LLC for a mixed-use project at a vacant church property at 739 4th Street NW on the city’s west side.

VICKSBURG — A proposed large-scale redevelopment in Southwest Michigan is angling to be the second project in the state to use a new funding tool. Paper City Development LLC is hopeful its proposal will meet the Michigan Strategic Fund’s criteria to use the state’s transformational brownfield program, an incentive first enacted in 2017.

VICKSBURG — A proposed large-scale redevelopment in Southwest Michigan is angling to be the second project in the state to use a new funding tool.

Paper City Development LLC is hopeful its proposal will meet the Michigan Strategic Fund’s criteria to use the state’s transformational brownfield program, an incentive first enacted in 2017.

The developers are preparing to submit a 190-page transformational brownfield plan detailing an ambitious $80 million undertaking to rehabilitate the former Lee Paper Mill site, which has sat dormant for about two decades in Vicksburg, a village of 3,400 people that’s located about 15 miles south of Kalamazoo.

The mixed-use project would transform the mill, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, to include a brewery, distillery, beer garden, restaurants, various commercial and residential spaces, boutique hotel, and a museum dedicated to the American brewing industry. As well, the developer’s plans call for multiple event spaces and an outdoor courtyard for music and other events that can fit up to 10,000 people.

“We’re planning on having multi-day music festivals on the compound and we’re planning on having up to 40,000 people visiting two weekends a year,” said Jackie Koney, director of Vicksburg operations for Paper City Development.

Executives at the company, founded by Vicksburg native Chris Moore, who lives in Seattle and owns software firm Concord Technologies, have spent about four years coming up with what they believe is a sustainable plan for Paper City, Koney said. They now are working through the application process for the state’s transformational brownfield program, which they say is necessary for the project to move forward.

Developers hope to convince the MSF board with a plan that estimates the project will create 1,852 jobs over the first five years of operation and lead to $214 million in new wages, $399 million in new value and $60 million in new state and local taxes.

Koney said the project would not only benefit Vicksburg, but also Kalamazoo County as a whole. Paper City Development hopes to complete the project by 2024.

“Given how new the program is, we have had to rely heavily on the expertise of MEDC staff, all of whom have been extremely responsive to questions and requests for feedback,” Koney said.

The state has used the transformational brownfield program for just one other project: Bedrock Management Services LLC’s $2.1 billion development of four sites spanning six acres in downtown Detroit.

Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, also the founder of Bedrock Management, helped push the legislation that created the transformational brownfield program, which allows for the capture of additional taxes to fill funding gaps that would prevent a development from moving forward.

Approval of the plan in Vicksburg would bring in $23.9 million in state taxes to reimburse cleanup activities for a period of 30 years. Paper City Development would provide about $56 million in private investment.

Offsetting the gap

Since the MSF board approved the transformational brownfield program for Gilbert’s Detroit project, communities and developers from other areas have been in talks with the state, but so far none of them have applied to use the funding tool, said Lori Mullins, director of community development incentives for the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

The state created the program to allow large projects to capture additional revenues so they can be financially feasible, specifically to overcome challenges at difficult-to-redevelop sites, she said.

“In a lot of development cases, the proposed project won’t create the revenue from operations and cash flow that’s necessary to pay the debt service that would be required to make the project happen,” Mullins said. “The transformational brownfield plan allows for the capture of certain revenues that are created from the project — that would otherwise go to the state and other taxing jurisdictions — to help offset that gap.”

The transformational brownfield program allows for the capture of five new sources of tax revenue associated with a project, in addition to incremental revenue from property taxes. The additional tax revenue includes various income, sales, use and withholding tax captures, which are limited to up to 20 years.

The project must prove it will have a transformational effect on local economic development and community revitalization, based on the extent of brownfield redevelopment and growth in population, commercial activity and employment that will result from the plan. It also must be a mixed-use project and meet minimum thresholds of capital investment that vary depending on the population size of the municipality where it’s proposed.

Since Vicksburg’s population falls in the category of less than 25,000, Paper City Development would need to have a capital investment of at least $15 million. On the other end of the spectrum, communities with at least 600,000 residents require a $500 million investment to qualify for the program.

Planning ahead

So far, Paper City Development’s transformational brownfield application has garnered resolutions of support from the village of Vicksburg, Schoolcraft Township and most recently Kalamazoo County. The development must complete the MEDC’s review process, including an analysis by the state treasurer. The developers need to show there is a net benefit to the state with agreement from the treasurer. If it meets the criteria, the Paper City plans would then go before the Michigan Strategic Fund board for consideration.

Paper City executives describe the project as a labor of love for Moore, who for a time worked at the mill, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Moore also plans to connect the project to his Seattle-based company, Old Stove Brewing Co., by opening a satellite brewery and taproom at the mill, which he purchased in 2014 from the Kalamazoo County Land Bank.

Village Manager Jim Mallery believes the redevelopment of the mill would have an impact measured in the “tens of millions” of dollars for Vicksburg. The village council voted in October to create a zoning classification to accommodate the proposed redevelopment.

The village and the developers also are considering other effects on the community, like increased traffic and noise. Developers will submit plans to the village on how to mitigate these challenges, and have retained firms to study the project’s effects on the environment, sound and the residential market.

“We’ve had a lot of those discussions and we understand there will be an impact,” Mallery said. “Hopefully there’s pretty significant traffic coordination plans being put together, and event plans, so it can have the least negative impact possible.”

David Denton says even though e-commerce is affecting the retail market, he’s expecting another good year for the sector from a real estate development perspective. Denton, vice president of real estate brokerage at DAR Development in Grand Rapids, was recently named to the Midwest Real Estate News Hall of Fame and previously served as president of the Commercial Alliance of Realtors.

David Denton says even though e-commerce is affecting the retail market, he’s expecting another good year for the sector from a real estate development perspective. Denton, vice president of real estate brokerage at DAR Development in Grand Rapids, was recently named to the Midwest Real Estate News Hall of Fame and previously served as president of the Commercial Alliance of Realtors. A 20-year industry veteran who specializes in retail and restaurant projects in Michigan, northern Indiana and Ohio, Denton spoke with MiBiz about the particular challenges and opportunities that exist in the local retail real estate market.

Given the retail shift to the e-commerce model, how do you assess the state of the retail real estate market?

The news would paint a really bad picture for retail. In reality, I don’t think it’s that bad yet. Yes, major malls are going through a transformation, primarily because people are not shopping at department stores like they used to, but they are still going to the mall to shop at the other stores. Retail sales are still very strong. A lot of the national people have adapted with a brick-and-mortar and an online channel to hit all customers and allow customers to buy online or return at the store.

How have the changes in retail affected the real estate industry?

From a site selection standpoint, it’s gotten harder because there’s been — really in the last four to five years — less new construction. There are fewer new sites being constructed for being able to plug and play into. It’s made site selection a lot harder for retailers, like for a Starbucks or a Tropical Smoothie Cafe that have certain requirements about where they need to be. From a traffic count standpoint and demographic standpoint, it used to be people would put up an outlot in front of a Target and expect to get tenants. Now that doesn’t happen unless they know they have a tenant. It makes us team up with preferred developers to make sure we can get those completed.

What challenges are you expecting this year?

I have a really good pipeline this year, and had one of my best last year. There was a good mix of business between retail site selection, a lot of sales. I represented a large hotel group who we did a lot of land purchases with. Vacancies are down, so space is still hard to find, and rental prices are going up, so a lot of negotiation has to be done to get the right deals for people. But my pipeline is good. It’s a good mix of business. I think retail is alive.

When do you think we will see major shifts in retail?

I think we’re going to continue to see change in the way people do business, whether shopping online or having groceries delivered to your house. That shift is going to continue. What that does is create opportunities for new players to enter the market that maybe have that expertise and can do it better than someone who’s just starting to get into it. The existing retailers, restaurants and grocery stores, they’re just going to get better. We all still need to wear clothes, we all still need to eat. How we acquire those goods and services may change a little bit, but I don’t foresee in the next 10 to 15 years that there’s going to be any vast changes other than what we’ve seen in the last 10 years.

What opportunities do you see to breathe new life into vacant retail centers?

For instance, I have represented Starbucks in Michigan, except Southeast Michigan, for 10 years or more. A recent transaction with them in Grand Rapids is 465 Fuller, a former Burger King that had been vacant for 5-10 years. Starbucks has been looking for a drive-thru location on Michigan Street near the hospital for several years. New drive-thrus are very difficult to get approved along this corridor. We decided to look at Fuller. I worked with the owner of the Burger King, who is a client of mine, and Starbucks to come up with a site plan that would be acceptable to the city as well as Starbucks. This took a period of about 12 months. Construction is now underway and we will soon have a new Starbucks drive-thru on this site, along with an additional 2,400 square feet of tenant space that we hope will be filled soon as well.

How do major retail bankruptcies affect what you do?

Typically, bankruptcy isn’t good for anyone — retailer, landlord or the shopping consumer. The only one that wins sometimes is the broker backfilling the space, especially in a tight market. Although we have seen many retailer bankruptcies, their spaces have quickly been absorbed as good retail space is hard to come by right now. Vacancy rates are actually very low as little new inventory has come on the market. So, although stores going out of business sounds bad, it does create opportunities for new retailers/users to enter the market.

Is there anything that’s keeping you up at night?

One thing that keeps me up at night is it’s hard to find new people that want to get in the business and learn the business and move forward with me. Everybody is having a hard time finding people right now. My next step is to develop a small team to assist me, and then take over that business. In this industry, it’s tough because it’s 100-percent commission, and most people are either not in the position where they can do that or they’re not comfortable with it. It’s a great industry and a really fun business. Every day the job is a little bit different.

A Grand Rapids-based development group has proposed plans to activate Grand Rapids Public Schools’ long-vacant West Leonard Elementary facility.

GRAND RAPIDS — A local development group has proposed plans to activate Grand Rapids Public Schools’ long-vacant West Leonard Elementary facility.

1351 Leonard LLC, an affiliate of Cherry Street Capital LLC, wants to develop an event and banquet venue for the site at 1351 Leonard St. NW on the city’s northwest side.

Developers believe the historic building is an ideal location for an event venue as it provides space to host wedding ceremonies, cocktail hours and receptions under one roof, and will have 104 off-street parking spaces. The venue will enable developers to respond to demand for such a facility, according to an application to the Grand Rapids Planning Commission, which approved a special land use for the property at its meeting on Thursday.

Commissioners briefly discussed the developers’ plans to host live music on a proposed outdoor terrace at the venue, ultimately deciding to move forward as long as the music was not amplified.

“We don’t want to restrict (music outdoors),” said Chad Barton, a member of 1351 Leonard LLC and partner at Cherry Street Capital. “We don’t want to restrict having a quartet out there.”

Barton said GRPS has already supported the proposal, and developers are under contract to acquire the site. They do not propose major structural changes to the outside of the building.

Licensed caterers would serve food, beverages and alcohol at the site, and events will be managed onsite by the management team that operates The Cheney Place, another wedding and event venue in Grand Rapids, according to the Planning Commission application.

Holt-based Moore Trosper Construction Co. has opened an office in Sault Ste. Marie in an effort to work with the local Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

SAULT STE. MARIE — Holt-based Moore Trosper Construction Co. has opened an office in Sault Ste. Marie in an effort to work with the local Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

The new office for Native American-owned Moore Trosper, a construction management, general contracting, design-build and concrete services firm, opened at the tribes’ Tamarack Business Center.

“As members of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, we consider the Upper Peninsula of Michigan part of our family heritage,” President Ted Moore said in a statement. “To help other companies succeed by assisting them with their construction needs honors our company as well as our ancestors.”

The firm has previously worked on projects for the tribe, including the Sault Ste. Marie-based Joseph K. Lumsden Bahweting Anishnabe School.

“Moore Trosper is a shining example of successful Sault Tribe members positively impacting the business world,” stated Joel Schultz, the tribe’s economic development director. “Success breeds success, which is why it’s important to have companies such as Moore Trosper explore growth opportunities through the center. They bring industry expertise and proven success, and can also mentor the tribe and fellow members.”

The tribe has positioned the Tamarack Business Center as a hub for companies owned by tribal members to do business on tribally-owned lands and expand their Michigan market presence. Other tenants at the facility include Neenah, Wis.-based JETA Corp., a supplier to firms in the energy, nuclear, construction, and industrial markets, and Denver-based Tipping Point Solutions, which offers video-based training.

Tipping Point opened the Sault Ste. Marie office in move to grow its federal and Department of Defense business, according to a report in The Sault News.

The tribe also has been active in business via its economic development arm. In January, tribally-owned property management firm DeMawating Development acquired Shunk Rental Properties for $1.9 million. Through the deal, DeMawating added 87 rental properties in Kincheloe, Mich., located in the eastern U.P. about 18 miles south of Sault Ste. Marie.

The deal furthers the tribe’s economic diversification efforts through the addition of revenue-generating properties, according to a statement.

“These rentals will complement our existing DeMawating rentals and increase our overall profitability in the long term,” Sault Tribe Chairperson Aaron Payment said in a statement.

The company purchased the facility at 1040 40th St. SE as an investment property, according to the West Michigan office of Colliers International.

Schostak paid $24.1 million for the property, which Minnetrista Investments LLC had owned since 2008, according to property records. The transaction closed Feb. 13.

“We have been looking for the right opportunity to further invest in West Michigan for several years and Colliers helped us find the perfect opportunity with this distribution facility,” Jeffrey Schostak, president of Schostak Development, a business unit of Schostak Brothers & Co., said in a statement.

Bunzl Retail Services will continue to occupy the building.

Schostak is a fourth-generation family business whose properties span retail, office, industrial and residential sectors, including mixed-use and built-to-suit projects.

John Kuiper, executive vice president at Colliers, said in a statement the opportunity to purchase a property of this size in West Michigan is “becoming increasingly rare.”

GRAND RAPIDS — The Kent County Road Commission is evaluating one bid valued at more than $5 million for its property on the Grand River. The Road Commission in December released a notice of sale for its Central Complex property located at 1500 Scribner Ave. NW along the west bank of the Grand River near U.S. 131. According to the Road Commission, 2722 Vassar LLC, which is registered to Christopher Weller, was the only entity to submit a bid.

GRAND RAPIDS — The Kent County Road Commission is evaluating one bid valued at more than $5 million for its property on the Grand River.

The Road Commission in December released a notice of sale for its Central Complex property located at 1500 Scribner Ave. NW along the west bank of the Grand River near U.S. 131. According to the Road Commission, 2722 Vassar LLC, which is registered to Christopher Weller, was the only entity to submit a bid.

The company’s bid provides a purchase price of just more than $5 million to be paid in full at closing and stipulates the sale include all fixtures and furniture at the complex.

Proposed terms from the buyer also ask that all post-closing rent under existing leases with the Kent County Drain Commission and Kent County Department of Public Works be paid to the 2722 Vassar LLC. Those two public entities are currently paying leases to the road commission. Under the terms of the possible sale, the leases would be transferred to the new owner.

It also provides that the Kent County Road Commission lease back the property at a base rate of $82,500 per month until Dec. 31, 2020, with an option to extend month-to-month for one year.

Maura Lamoreaux, communications manager for the Road Commission, said not much information is available on the bid, but added that department staffers are evaluating the proposal. They could make a recommendation on next steps at the Road Commission’s March 26 meeting.

The Road Commission has known for some time that it would need to relocate to a larger property to expand its operations, as the current site is bordered by two city streets, railroad tracks and the Grand River. In 2016, the Road Commission purchased a 29-acre parcel at the Walkerview Industrial Park for a possible expansion.

The Scribner property has been identified as an “opportunity site” for redevelopment under GR Forward, a 10-year community plan and investment strategy for downtown Grand Rapids and the Grand River corridor. Officials previously told MiBiz the four-parcel site presents opportunities to better connect more residents to the riverfront.

The property, just north of Webster Street and adjacent to US-131, includes more than 130,000 square feet of building space and 1,090 feet of frontage along the river.

A proposed headquarters project in Cascade Charter Township could become the home for Acrisure LLC, a Caledonia-based insurance brokerage that’s been growing rapidly through an ambitious M&A strategy.

A proposed headquarters project in Cascade Charter Township could become the home for Acrisure LLC, a Caledonia-based insurance brokerage that’s been growing rapidly through an ambitious M&A strategy.

Acrisure CEO Greg Williams, in response to an email inquiry from MiBiz, said the company was working on locations for a new corporate headquarters, but it was too early to comment. One of the sites the company is considering is a location just south of I-96 on Glenwood Hills Parkway SE, according to Williams, who declined to elaborate further.

Acrisure, the largest acquirer of insurance brokerages in North America, has more than 400 partner insurance agencies in 32 states that offer property and casualty policies, employee benefits, human resource outsourcing, loss and claims management, surety bonding and personal lines solutions.

Toward the end of 2018, Acrisure received a $2.6 billion capital investment from existing investors. Williams told MiBiz at the time that about $240 million of the investment would go toward future acquisitions in the U.S., Canada and Europe, where Acrisure acquired a London-based insurance broker a year ago.

The Hinman Co. and Rockford Construction Co. Inc., working through the partnership Glenwood Development Partners LLC, submitted a proposal in January to Cascade Charter Township for a four-story, 136,000-square-foot office building on a 7-acre site on Glenwood Hills Parkway, near the 28th Street interchange along I-96.

The site also is adjacent to Lake Michigan Credit Union’s headquarters campus.

A spokesperson for Rockford Construction declined to comment for this report.

According to documents submitted to the township, the office building would house 670 employees for what Glenwood Development described as a “global corporation interested in building their new headquarters on our site.”

Citing the “sensitivity of current negotiations,” the partners in Glenwood Development did not identify the potential tenant for the development, other than to note it was a “professional firm, rated one of the top 10 in its industry worldwide.”

“We believe this project will generate significant economic benefits to Cascade Township, including increased property tax revenues resulting from the proposed improvements, increased consumer spending at local establishments, and increased demand for residential units in the township,” according to the Glenwood Development proposal submitted to the township.

Glenwood Development applied to the township for approval of the project as a planned unit development that requires a local zoning amendment, said Steve Peterson, community development director for Cascade Township. The proposal is presently undergoing administrative review. If the developers proceed and provide additional information the township has requested, the proposal will go through a public hearing before the Planning Commission.

If the planning panel backs the project, it would go on to the township board for another public hearing and consideration.

Two lakeshore communities are rethinking how former industrial sites will play a role in future development along their waterfronts.

Two lakeshore communities are rethinking how former industrial sites will play a role in future development along their waterfronts.

That’s true in both Holland and Muskegon, two cities in which decommissioned coal-fired power plants could help free up sites for new uses and redevelopment.

As well, both communities follow a string of examples of municipalities paying more attention to how they approach their waterfronts.

“That’s a big trend we’re seeing in a lot of communities, centering around that water asset,” said Luke Forrest, director of civic innovations at the Michigan Municipal League. “It’s a primary asset a lot of these downtowns have.”

After the retirement of the James DeYoung power plant in 2017, officials in Holland started to consider how the city-owned property could be catalytic in waterfront development.

“What happens on the DeYoung property, whatever it may be, would kind of set the direction for future development on the waterfront,” said Mark Vanderploeg, community and neighborhood services director for the city of Holland. “We think it’s really important.”

Last year, Holland officials started a public engagement process to assess needs on the waterfront, sparked by the redevelopment possibilities posed by the James DeYoung property, which sits just outside of downtown off Pine Avenue.

The engagement includes the “Waterfront Holland” initiative, which has gathered public input via a series of brainstorming events to discuss what could become of the property, as well as assess ideas about what the waterfront should look like from South Shore Village to Holland Energy Park, the city’s new natural gas-fired power plant.

The city has never taken an overall look at its entire waterfront, Vanderploeg said. This process provides an opportunity to complete that visioning, then “zero in” on designs for the James DeYoung site.

Establishing an overall vision has yielded thousands of ideas, perhaps because the Lake Macatawa waterfront serves a variety of uses, including industrial. For examples, the James DeYoung property is bordered by industrial uses like Padnos Recycling & Scrap Management.

“Industry has always been a critical part of the city of Holland and remains so,” Vanderploeg said. “Certainly, we don’t want to do anything that could hinder the continued ability for businesses to provide jobs and provide the meaningful things that they do for our local economy.”

The Lake Macatawa waterfront also encourages recreation at sites like Kollen Park and features several activated areas, including near the Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant.

After engaging with the public and various stakeholder groups, the city will review a handful of design scenarios in a market feasibility study. After that, the city could go through an RFP process and partner with the private sector to develop the James DeYoung property. Vanderploeg said the city’s charter mandates waterfront land cannot be sold without a vote from the electorate.

Consolidating industrial

When Consumers Energy closed its B.C. Cobb power plant in 2016 and crews a year later started to demolish a massive paper manufacturing plant on the shores of Muskegon Lake, officials there started to weigh how to push industrial uses to the eastern part of the waterfront to free up space for new uses.

Unlike in Holland, Muskegon’s former coal plant is being redeveloped by a private company, North Carolina-based Forsite Development Inc., which is working to consolidate industrial uses to the former B.C. Cobb site.

Consumers Energy sold the site to Forsite after a months-long evaluation process of firms looking to redevelop the site.

Forsite is currently decommissioning and demolishing the plant, a process it expects to finish at the beginning of 2020, according to Tom McKittrick, principal at the company. Forsite has signed a lease with Verplank Dock Co., which already has an operation on Muskegon Lake, to free up other lakefront property and help move industrial uses to the east end of the lake.

“What is hopefully the outcome is it allows for some of the industrial uses to be consolidated at this end of the lake, which is something the city has wanted for a long time,” McKittrick said. “Currently, there are multiple aggregate piles on the waterfront. This paves the way to get a lot of those properties back into a productive use.”

The property includes 10 usable acres of developable land with dock frontage. McKittrick said several companies have looked at the site, but he’s yet to sign a deal, noting the property would be best suited for an industrial use.

“A lot of land area is effectively sediment,” he said. “There’s pilings down to the bedrock. To build a new structure would be cost prohibitive. Because of the dock, it’s very well-suited for industrial or marine-type uses that can take advantage of the dockage.”

As industrial users shift to the east, developers are embarking on a housing boom between downtown Muskegon and the harbor.

Muskegon Planning Director Mike Franzak said developers have multiple projects underway on the city’s waterfront. Among the projects, Parkland Properties LLC is building Terrace Point Landing, which will feature 70 single-family homes or duplexes. Many of the units have already sold.

During its Feb. 26 meeting, the Muskegon City Commission approved plans for another residential development called Hartshorn Village that includes 55 condos with access to Hartshorn Marina.

At the former site of the Sappi Paper Mill, developers continue to chip away at plans for Windward Pointe, a $250 million to $400 million neighborhood that includes several hundred units as part of an expansive mixed-use development, Franzak said.

As well, Muskegon-based developer Damfino Development LLC has proposed The Docks project, which includes 250 residential units between Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake.

The city’s vision for the Muskegon Lake waterfront calls for mixed-use development, Franzak said, noting high demand for housing in the area.

Attracting people and developers to the waterfront might not have happened if it weren’t for significant cleanup efforts by the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission and other groups, which helped to clear contaminated sediment along tributaries and industrial sites.

“(Muskegon Lake) wasn’t necessarily the nice, beautiful asset,” the MML’s Forrest said. “The cleanup part is key. Muskegon has done a ton of work in this area.”

As projects move forward to reshape how cities interact with their waterfront, it could come with significant benefit to the local economies, sources said.

“I think it’ll be great for the economy,” Franzak said. “It can really help with our downtown development, and I think it’ll also bring mixed-use development to the waterfront as well.”